Five of Cliven Bundy’s grandchildren pulled from school over ban on carrying pocket knives

Five of anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy’s grandchildren were removed from their Nevada schools because of a ban on bringing knives onto their respective campuses, KSNV-TV reported.

Bundy’s son Ryan Bundy pulled the children after officials with the Clark County School District informed him that his 15-year-old daughter would not be allowed to bring her pocket knife to Virgin Valley High School because it fell under the district’s zero-tolerance policy against weapons.

“They’re trying to make my child a criminal – and any other child a criminal – for simply having something, and that is not right,” Ryan Bundy told KSNV, adding that he planned to speak to the school’s principal and ask that she be allowed to circumvent the policy.

Ryan Bundy stated that each of his children owns a pocket knife and uses it at home for chores, and were also allowed to bring them while attending charter schools and schools in Utah in the past. The other children were pulled from a local middle school and elementary school.

The 15-year-old daughter, who was not identified, told KSNV that she hoped the dispute would be resolved soon, as she was looking forward to start her freshman year at Virgin Valley.

“I still would like to go to this school,” she was quoted as saying. “I really don’t want to be homeschooled.”

Earlier this year, Ryan Bundy supported his father’s attempt to avoid paying federal grazing fees, which has left him owing more than $1 million to the Bureau of Land Management. He also led a group of 300 protesters riding their ATVs through Utah’s Recapture Canyon, federally-protected land which contains a number of Native American artifacts.

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Arturo R. García is the managing editor at Racialicious.com. He is based in San Diego, California and has written for both print and broadcast media, including contributions to GlobalComment.com, The Root and Comment Is Free. Follow him on Twitter at @ABoyNamedArt